Monday, November 28, 2005

Not the best logic, but it does a reasonably good job of bringing up some of the main issues that marketing is concerned with. Might even make a good business case

http://www.techuser.net/lego.html

Thursday, November 10, 2005

1/5 of Science Projects impacted by patent problems

Right to Create: Patents Chilling Science?: "Of the 40% of respondents who reported their work had been affected [by patents], 58% said their work was delayed, 50% reported they had to change the research, and 28% reported abandoning their research project. The most common reason respondents reported having to change or abandon their research project was that the acquisition of the necessary technologies involved overly complex licensing negotiations."

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

How to Prototype a Game in Under 7 Days

Brilliant in it's way - choice pieces include:

"If You Can Get Away With it, Fake it

This is arguably one of the most important lessons of the project. Often the “correct” solution is not the best solution. Strategically faking it will save you time and money; it will make your game faster, and your teeth whiter. Fake it liberally and often! ... This rule is also a fantastic general lesson for life, we have found. Slackers, take note."

"Heavy Theming Will Not Salvage Bad Design (or "You Can't Polish a Turd")"

self-explanitory, I think.

"Build Toward a Well Defined Goal

A well defined goal was embarrassingly easy to forget about. Without a gameplay goal, a prototype is just a toy – not a game. For some reason, people seem to enjoy having the opportunity to fail. A goal can be anything..."

and

"Our objective advisor kindly pointed out, “Rapid prototyping can be a lot like conceiving a child. No one expects a winner every time, but you always walk away having learned something new, and it's usually a lot of fun!”"

Check it out:

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20051026/gabler_01.shtml